Apparel Retailers Mostly Report Lower Sales In March

(RTTNews) - A sampling of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday mostly reported lower sales results at established stores for the month of March.

Retailers' sales during the month were negatively impacted by the shift of Easter from early April last year to mid-March in the current year.

In late March, the Conference Board released a report showing a rebound in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of March. The Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 96.2 in March, from an upwardly revised 94.0 in February.

Sales at established stores or comparable-store sales is a key retail industry performance metric to gauge activity at store locations that have been open for at least a year.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its March comparable store sales increased 3 percent, reflecting increases at both its brand stores.

However, comparable sales were negatively impacted by the earlier Easter in the current year by about 1 to 2 points. The company recorded comparable store sales increase of 7 percent in the same period last year.

Net sales for the month were $1.03 billion, up 5 percent from $981.2 million last year.

L Brands also announced changes at Victoria's Secret designed to further focus the brand on its core merchandise categories and streamline operations.

The actions include restructuring the organization into three business units - Victoria's Secret Lingerie, Pink and Victoria's Secret Beauty. The restructuring changes include the elimination of about 200 Columbus and New York home office associates.

Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that its March same-store sales declined 1 percent, while total sales rose 2 percent from last year to $118.8 million from $117 million in the prior-year period.

The company noted that its March sales were negatively impacted by the shift of Easter from early April last year to mid-March in the current year.

Looking ahead, the company affirmed its outlook for first-quarter earnings in a range of $1.12 to $1.16 per share.

Meanwhile, teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) said that its comparable store net sales for March declined 11.8 percent from the year-ago period. Net sales for the month decreased 11 percent to $96.6 million from last year's $108.5 million.